18 Months

He loves having his picture taken, but he does not love sitting still. Oh, Christopher. How'd you get to be so big?

Last week we were at the Children's Museum, and Christopher was getting hassled by another little girl. She was pushing him out of the way, and trying to take any toy he had. Her mom was right there, and she kept saying, "Leave the baby alone!" even though Christopher was bigger than that little girl. Anyway, I let it play out because I wanted to see how he would handle it. He looked surprised at first, and just ignored her the first few times she did it. We ran into her again a bit later, and she AGAIN pushed Christopher. He, very calmly, firmly grabbed both of her arms and moved her out of his way. It was hilarious. And that other mom sure has her hands full.

Christopher has added a few words to his vocabulary: go, ball and CLARE. That one is the best. He sees her and says, "Hi Clare!" Except he says "Care." It is adorable. He tries to repeat all of the words that I say. I love having little conversations with him. He is so proud when he can correctly identify an object, and since I am powerless in the face of his smile, I give him the positive feedback he is looking for.

Christopher is very interested in what other kids are doing, and tries to copy them. (Obviously, his role model is frequently Clare.) We had a playdate last week with a herd of boys, plus Clare, and they were running around the house like maniacs. Christopher was chasing after them, hands in the air, grunting and screaming with the best of them. Sometimes he went the opposite way, but he was having a ball.

He loves to feed people. If he is eating crackers, he shares his snack. And he is determined about it. He will stuff food in your face, and YOU WILL EAT IT. Even if your mouth is already full. It is sweet, though.

He is still a good eater and good sleeper, but he has terrible table manners. He throws food on the floor constantly. I immediately take his plate away, but the lesson hasn't sunk in. I can't remember when Clare outgrew this habit. Luckily we have wood floors, so clean up is easy.

He has been struggling a bit with separation anxiety. He just wants his mama. I love the hugs I get, but I don't love the crying. The other day I was headed out somewhere, and he stood by the backdoor sobbing as I walked to the garage. I could see him still standing there as I backed the car out of the garage. Ben told me he got over it 30 seconds later. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. I am glad he recovers quickly, but it can still be stressful.

We are visiting my parents for Easter. Clare is pumped for the Easter Bunny, and doesn't seem nearly as scared as she was of Santa. This doesn't seem logical to me, but okay. Maybe it's because we've been kind of vague about what the Easter Bunny actually does.

Happy Easter!